Congressional leaders made the tactical mistake of blindly praising compromise for compromise’s sake, instead of rallying public support for clear and bold legislation, forcing conservatives to choose between supporting popular progress or explaining to voters their constant obstruction.

Having set expectations that some legislation would pass — despite knowing the conservative minority would never legislate in good faith — the media bestows failure on the majority when the minority blocks.

And yet, even though the recent children’s health bill and energy bill were compromises, they were principled compromises.

The bills still show what a new direction for America looks like, investing in our children, our environment and our economy.

They were still blocked by the conservative minority, more interested in the special interest than the public interest.

And in turn, soon the public will have the choice between those two visions.

Recent Stories by Bill Scher

A healthy Republican primary would feature a competition of ideas to reach those presently outside the narrow Republican tent, with multiple candidates trying to better Jeb Bush's thin, if well-meaning, appeals.

McConnell is executing a literal scorched-earth strategy: urging governors to adopt a quasi-nullification strategy and ignore federal authority ... ensure we fail to do our part to avert the baking of the planet.

Continually allowing the tea party to dictate the Republican Party platform has consequences. Not only is there short-term political risk, but there is also a long-term risk to the soul of the Republican Party.

About Bill Scher

Bill Scher is the Online Campaign Manager at Campaign for America's Future, and the executive editor of LiberalOasis.com. He is the author of Wait! Don't Move To Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America, a regular contributor to Bloggingheads.tv and host of the LiberalOasis Radio Show weekly podcast. He has opinion articles that have been published by the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Omaha World-Herald, and has made appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR among other TV and radio outlets.